GameStop might not accept your band game instruments as trade anymore, but the company does have its eye on another sort of colorful plastic toys. Gaming website Pixelitis recently received information about a Skylanders trade-in program being tested at several U.S. GameStop locations.

All good and terrifically frustrating things must come to an end, and for countless parents, children, and collectors the release of the final three Skylanders figures marks the end of an era, to be followed later this year by the beginning of another.

Battling their way out of the post-holiday shortage, Activision and Toys for Bob have unleashed a trio of new Skylanders at retail, including one that should be familiar to hardcore Spyro fans, should such a thing exist.

Activision's action figure-driven Skylanders: Sypro's Adventure was a huge holiday hit last year, with parents buying up starter kits in droves. Now, with hundreds of thousands of children demanding additional figures, empty Skylanders displays have become an all-too-frequent frustration for haggard parents.

While the plastic characters Toys For Bob created to populate the world of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure are certainly cute, colorful, and well-made, zero points of articulation makes them less action figure, more tiny statue. Action figure customizer supreme Jin Saotome brings four Skylanders to life in a whole new…

I just finished saying that Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was one of my favorite games of the year and now I find out that Toys R Us is giving away a copy to people who pick up the Red Nintendo 3DS Mario Bundle.

While at least two of us at Kotaku enjoy Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure enough to recommend a purchase, that doesn't mean we're oblivious to the costly downsides to a game that sells its downloadable content on toy store shelves.

Mixing together video games and collectible toys, Activision? How very Captain Power of you. As many will no doubt remember, the good captain and his soldiers of the future wound up defending clearance aisles from evil until fading into obscurity. Should a simillar fate befall Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure? It's time…

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure hit game and toy store shelves, resulting in thousands of children and adults learning a new way to play together. There are many different ways to squeeze fun out of these shiny lumps of plastic; let's take a look at three of them.

Video game stores everywhere are forced to carry action figures this Sunday, when Activision releases the toy-powered Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. In the meantime, check out what Activision unleashed all over my computer desk today.

Here is how you take a three-inch high plastic figurine and pull him into your 3DS, without wires, memory cards, or the device's camera. Just set your character from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure on that portal, and aim the 3DS at him, and wait for the beam of light. When I did it, I swear I felt the slightest tug…

The next big thing in action figures is "interaction figures." That's the pitch we heard today during a showcase event in New York City for a revival of the video game hero Spyro the Dragon as part of a band of toys that interact with video games.